The Life and Times of CAAWS
L huteuretracel;biztoriquc& UAWS (Association canadienne
n
s ks sports et llactivitC
pour hvancement &S fcmmes h
p&sique), une associationfin&+ m 1981 pour addresser &S
Girh'and women ? port has been characterized
by low hveh ofparticipation; absencefFom
hadership positions; inequitabh deliuery rystems;
minimal research; and scant coverage in the media.
p r o b h e s & sow-repriscntations dcs femmes h n s tow &S
domaines sportif;. Cet artick h n n e aux hctrices un aperp
&S objecti$ et du travail & UA WS.
The roots of the Canadian Association for the Advancement ofwomen and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS)
reach deep, far deeper than most people realize. They go
back to the late 19th century when Canadian women first
began to invade the male preserve that was sport. They go
back to 1925 when Alexandrine Gibb founded the Women's Amateur Athletic Federation, and for the first time
gave women in sport an official voice. They go back
through every decade of this century, each one distinguished by magnificent performances by dozens of Canad.an women.
We must not forget:
Speed skaters Lela Brooks with six world records in the
1920s; Jean Wilson, an Olympic star dead in 1933 at the
age of 23; world champion Sylvia Burka, who dominated
thesport in the 1970s; and recently-retired multiple world
champion and double Olympic silver medallist Nathalie
Lambert.
Trackstars Bobbie Rosenfeld, Canadian woman athlete
of the half century and winner of Olympic gold and silver
in 1928; her teammates Ethel Smith, Olympic gold and
bronze, and Ethel Catherwood, "The Saskatoon Lily,"
world record holder and Olympic champion high jumper;
Canada's favourite high jumper Debbie Brill; and 1992
Olympic medallist and triple Commonwealth middle
distance champion Angela Chalmers.
Golfer Ada Mackenzie, founder of the Toronto Lades'
Golf and Tennis Club in 1924.
The incredible Edmonton Grads basketball team, credited with 502 wins and a mere 20 losses as they dominated
the game from 1915 to 1940.
Badminton player Dorothy Walton, the first Canadian
winner of the prestigious All England championship in
1939 and chosen one of the six best women athletes of the
half century.
Figure skaters Barbara Ann Scott, winner of two world
championships and an Olympic title in the 1940s; Karen
Magnussen, the star of the 1970s, with gold, silver, and
bronze from three world championships to go with her
Olympicsilver; the feistyworldchampion Isabelle Brasseur,
skating through pain to an Olympic bronze medal in
1994.
Marathon swimmers Marilyn Bell, the first person to
swim Lake Ontario, in 1954, and the youngest person to
swim the English Channel one year later; Cindy Nicholas,
who in 1976was the women's world marathon swimming
champion; and Vicky Keith, who has swum across each of
the Great Lakes.
Alpine skiers Lucile Wheeler, in the 1950s, with Olympic bronze and, at the world championships, two gold and
a silver; in 1960, Anne Heggtveit, Olympic gold and
double world championship gold; Nancy Greene, gold
and silver at the 1968 Olympic Games and twice World
Cup champion; world champions Betsy Clifford in 1970
and Kate Pace in 1993; and Olympic champions Kathy
Kreiner in 1976 and Kerrin Lee-Gartner in 1992.
"Mighty Mouse" Elaine Tanner, with two Olympic
silver medals and a bronze, described by her coach Howard
Firby as "a water-born creature.. .touched with genius,"
who at the 1968 Games, carried the unrelenting hopes of
a nation on her shoulders; backstroker Nancy Garapick, a
world record holder in 1975 at the age of 13 and double
Olympic medallist at 16.
Wheelchair racers Hilda May Torok Binns, winner in
the '60s and '70s of 13 international gold medals, six
silvers, and five bronzes, and today's star, Chantal Petitclerc;
blind discus and shotput world champion LjilijanaLjubisic;
swimmer Joanne Mucz, winner of five Paralympic gold
medals; skiing sensation Lana Spreeman who has won ten
Paralympic medals; and Canada's world champion wheelchair basketball players.
World champion archers Dorothy Lidstone in 1969
and Lucille Lessard in 1974.
Today there's biathlon double Olympic champion
Myriam Bkdard; rowers Silken Laumann, Marnie
McBean, Colleen Miller, and Wendy Wiebe; track star
Charmaine Crooks; synchronized swimmer Sylvie
Frichette; kayaker Caroline Brunet; cyclists Tanya
Dubnicoff, Alison Sydor, and Linda Jackson; springboard diver Annie Pelletier; trap shooter Susan Nattrass;
swimmer Marianne Limpert; table tennis player Lijuan
Geng; the Sandra Peterson rink, world curling charnpiCANADIAN WOMAN STUDIESILES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME
ons for two years running; the women's national ice
hockey team, winner of three world championships in a
row; and Olympic medallist Susan Auch, Canada's premier long track speed skater.. .
The other side of the picture
What has all this success to do with WWS, an organization dedicated to improving opportunities for girls and
women? Don't the victories indicate that all is well in the
world of Canadian sport? In fact, the successes are misleading; they blind most Canadians to the truth-the
roots
of
CMWS lie in
the consistent underrepresentation of women in all
facets
of
sport that
has left women mute
and frustrated. That
all these women, and so
many more,
have succeeded, borders on the
miraculous
because
Canada's
sport system, "Founding Mothers of wws,"1981
& far as equity is concerned, has long left much to be
desired.
Girls' and women's sport has traditionally been characterized by low levels of participation; absence from leadership positions in administration and coaching, at all
levels and in every area; inequitable delivery systems;
minimal research; and scant, often demeaning, coverage
in the media.
Change for women in sport began slowly, and progress
can be marked by several milestones-the Fitness and
Amateur Sport Act of 1961 (Bill C-131); the report of the
Royal Commission on the Status ofwomen in 1970; the
National Conference on Women in Sport in 1974; the
launching of Sport Canada's Women's Program in 1980;
the Female Athlete Conference in 1981 and the establishment by Sport Canada ofa Women in Sport program; the
Constitution Act of 1982; the establishment in 1986 by
Sport Canada of a formal policy on Women in Sport; the
Minister's Task Force Report in 1992; and the landmark
decision of the Canadian Sport Council to include gender
equity quotas in their operating principles.
Although the provision of the Fitness and Amateur
VOLUME 15, NUMBER 4
Sport Act were expressed in general terms and made no
specific references to women, its purpose was dear: to
make sport and fitness opportunities availableto all Canadians. The passage of the Act was significant because it
officially committed the federal government, for the first
time, to the promotion and development of amateur
sport.
Established in 1967 to inquire into thestatus ofwomen,
the Royal Commission revealed that fewer girls than boys
participated in sports in Canadian schools. Its report
included two recommendations addressing the issue of
female participation in sports programs.
Recommendation
77 called
for
the
provinces
and territories to review their
policies to
ensure that
school programs provide girls
and boys
with equal
opportunities to participate. It
also urged
the establishment of
policies and
Photo: Courtesy of w w s
practices to
motivate
and encourage girls to be active in sport.
Recommendation 78 suggested research to find out
why fewer girls than boys were participating in school
sport programs and to develop a strategy for change.
Early in 1974, with the leadership of Marion Lay, the
federal government's Fitness and Amateur Sport Branch
(FASB) sponsored a National Conference on Women and
Sport. Athletes, coaches, educators, administrators, and
researchers gathered to explore the issues raised by the
recommendations of the Royal Commission. The conference, which today is pinpointed as the beginning of the
women's movement in sport and fitness, produced action
proposals and the strategies for change. What was missing,
however, was the means to monitor the process and
implement the rec~m~nendations.
A study completed in March 1980 provided a push.
Study author Pam Lewis confirmed that women were
indeed under-represented in leadership in sport at the
national level. Commenting at the time, Susan Vail,
Manager of the Women's Program said that the simple
fact was that men's athletic needs-locally, provincially,
17
nationally, and internationally-had generally been met,
location; liaison; research; education; promotion; advo-
while women's needs had not.
That same year, a Female Athlete Conference, sponsored by FMBand organized by Anne Popma, was held
at Simon Fraser University to evaluate issues relevant to
women in sport and examine the structural inequities of
Canada's sport system. Participants, who included such
stellar athletes as Karen Magnussen, Susan Nattrass,
Carol Bishop, and
Beverly Boys, proposed explicit strategies t o break
down barriers and
change the strcture
of sport. The conference also served
as the catalyst for
the establishment
later that year of
Sport Canada's
Women's Program
to develop and promote the involvement of women in
sport and fitness
activities, and for
the founding of
cacy; and monitoring and evaluation. The ability of the
policy to effect change was, however, limited by a very
small budget. As well, there was no accountability framework to ensure that national sport organizations would
implement the policy and make a commitment to gender equity.
As one of the targeted issues in the 1992 Task Force
Report (Best, Blackhurst, and Makosky),
women were encouraged to expect that
their desire for change
was well on its way to
being fulfilled. According to the report,
CMWS.
Morechangecame
with the enactment
oftheCand$nCharter of Rights and
Freedoms in the
Constitution Act of
1982. The Charter
prohibits discrimination on the basis
of gender and pro-
... the pace of involving and advancing girls and women
across the sport continuum, and in all
levelsofsport organizations, must be significantlyaccelerated
in order to display
fair and equitable
treatment of 50 per
cent or more of the
Canadian population. (15 1)
A change in government in 1994 and fiscal slashing have put
the onus on CAAWSto
keep the Task Force
recommendations
front and centre.
the
Speed skater, Jean Wi$M
Photo: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
mental freedom of
CAAWS through the years
equality; in other words, rights and freedoms are guaranteed equally to females and males.
Formally launched in 1981, CAAWS
was founded to advoThe next milestone came in 1986 when Sport Canada,
cate for progressive change within Canada's sport system,
through the leadership of Director General Abby
leading to the enhanced presence of girls and women at all
Hoffman and Program Manager Diane Palmason, forlevels and in all areas-as
athletes, participants, leaders,
mally established a policy on Women in Sport that
coaches, and trainers. The founders,l many ofwhom remain
made equality of opportunity for women at all levels of
the sport system an oficial goal. The policy represented
active advocates today, were leaders in national, provincial,
and community sport and physical activity groups. The
the first government step to change the sport system. A
current leadership of CAAWS reflects a similar cross-sectiom2
two-pronged, action-oriented approach, supported by
Meeting at McMaster University in Hamilton in March
initiatives through both the Women's Program and Sport
Canada's financial support and program sources, was
1981,37 delegates from across the country, including educators, administrators, athletes, researchers, technical exagreed upon. Sport Canada developed a strategy of implementation for a number of activities including policy
perts, public servants, and women's group representatives,
discuss the pros and cons ofsetting up a national association
program development, an integrated sport infrastructo address the special concerns of girls and women in the
ture; leadership development; high performance compeworld of sport. Increasingly, women in sport were recogniztition; participation development; equitable resource alCANADIAN WOMAN STUDIESILES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME
ing that change would only take place when women began
to speak about the issues with one voice.
The delegates emerged from the meeting with a plan
of action that included setting up an interim planning
committee of Mary Keyes, Director of McMaster's School
of Physical Education and Athletics (the first woman to
hold such a position in Canada); Rose Mercier of the
Canadian Amateur Swimming Association; former 01ympic athletes Marion Lay and Abby Hoffman; Kathy
Lane McDondd of the Ontario Diving Association; Susan
Vail, manager of Sport Canada's Women's Program;
Dorothy Richardson of the Nationd Action Committee;
Nancy Theberge of the
University of
Waterloo;
Shirley Marsden of the
Canadian Figure Skating
Association,
O n t a r i o
Council; and
Lise BLanchard of the
Canadian Advisory Council on the Status ofwomen.
Four membets of the
committee
were given responsibilities
in the areas of
research' leadArcher. Lucille Lessard
ership, advocacy, and communications. The remaining six were to
write position papers and devise a structure for the organization.
Within two years, CMWS was working to meet several
objectives: to make h n d s available for women's sport
and recreation programs and to eliminate discriminatory
cutbacks; to be a national focus for action to improve the
status of girls and women in sport by lobbying legislators
and private sector decision makers; to see that h n d s were
not reallocated to "more important women's issues;" to
have facilities and equipment available for women's programs; to establish sport as an area of concern to the
women's movement and bring women in sport into the
mainstream of the movement; to develop information,
publications, and resources as effective vehicles for the
promotion of girls and women and sport.
In 1987, CAAWS declared itself a feminist organization
and adopted five important position statements:
CAAWSbelieves that systemic inequalitiesresult in unfavourable resource allocation, programming, and leaderVOLUME 15, NUMBER 4
ship development for girls and women in sport and
physical activity.
wws promotes actions that place and support women
in decision-making positions in sport and physical activity.
wws believes that the survival and advancement of
women in sport and physical activity is dependent upon
feminist empowerment and the feminist community.
CAAWS believes that any representation of girls and
women in sport and physical activity should eliminate
stereorypes and promote participation as a positive force
in their lives.
CAAWS believes that feminist values must be validated
and entrenched in the
management
and delivery of
sport and physical activity.
During this
period, CAAWS
functioned
through operational hnds received from the
Secretary of
State's Women's Program,
choosing to accept only selected project
funds from
Sport Canada
in order to
avoid being coopted by the
'pnvtem
it
Photo: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
was committed
to changing.
It was in 1989, when CAAWS was cut from the Secretary
of State's Women's Program and left without operational
hnds, that the organization began to move towards an
educational role. CAAWS began to position itselfwithin the
sport community as a leader and partner in developing
plans and programs to implement the 1986 Sport Canada
policy, which had been largely ignored by all but a few
sport organizations. In 1991, CAAWS applied to Sport
Canada for funding as a multi-sport organization.
The impact of CAAWS
When Sport Canada realized that its Women in Sport
policy was not being implemented, Abby Hofiman asked
Marion Lay to become Manager of the Women's Program. Assured of a clear mandate to examine the situation and make recommendations to make the policy
work, along with a reasonable budget, she accepted the
challenge.
19
Lay tackled gender equity head-on, striving to create a
dimate that, along with ensuring a fill range of opportunities and choices, assured equity for girls and women as
participants, competitors, and leaders.
An interesting early step was the tour of three progressive countries under the auspices of the International
Professional Development Program, a program to promote the study and practice of leadership and management within Canada's sport community. Working in
partnership with the Canadian Sport and Fitness Administration G n t r e and the International Relations and Major Games Directorate of FASB, Lay and Rose Mercier led
nine women from
across Canada to
England, Norway, and Sweden,
gathering invaluable information
and developing a
bold plan of action to achieve
gender equity in
sport. The tour
launched a new
way ofdoing business based on the
commitment that
m w s would
lead. The action
plan formed the
foundation of its
operations.
Lay believed
that it was the
right time t o
breathe new life
into
she Sprinter, Hilda Strike
found the support
and then the funding. She built a nation-wide network of
women and men who believed in an equitable sport
community. Now, only four
later, CAAWSis thriving,
a respected and productive member of Canada's sporting
community.
CAAWS' activities are wide-ranging. Operating with a
strong base of volunteers and a small team of staff, CMWS
commissions and publishes issue papers on topics of
critical significance to gender equity. It holds workshops
designed to introduce gender equity in clear and manageable stages. Because it believes that legislation is a primary
tool in effecting progressive change, CAAWS works with
Sport Canada to encourage policy development and implementation to improve the status ofgirls and women. It
also works to increase media and public awareness of the
importance of the issues it promotes. CMWS shares news of
important developments with its cross-country network
through Action, its quarterly newsletter. CMWS is partners
in "On The Move," a grassroots initiative that encourages
non-active teenage girls to participate in physical activity
and sport and is running in communities across Canada.
CAAWS celebrates outstanding achievement at our annual
Breakthrough Awards gala.
For a small organization, CAAWS' achievementsare large.
Among the highlights:
CMWS participated in the historic Women Sport and the
Challenge of Change conference which drafted The
Brighton DecLzration on Women in Sport, endorsed on May
8, 1994, by 280 delegates from 82 countries, and subsequently endorsed by the federal government.
wws was a key player in educating the sport community
to understand
and accept the
benefits of
genderequity,
leading to the
adoption of
gender equity
principles by
the Canadian
sport Council.
CAAWS has
for the first
time created
resources for
use by sport
organizations, and has
published the
GenderEquity
Handbook,
Women in International
Sport, Achieving Gender
Photo: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame ~
~ a ~
handbook for
Canadian delegates to international federations, and issue
papers dealingwith such topics as Harassmentin Sport, The
Law, Sport and Gender Equity in Canaak, Self-esteem,
Eating Disorders, Women and Tobacco, and Girls' Participation on Boys' Teams.
CMWS was a partner in the establishment of Promotion
Plus, CMWS' sister organization in British Columbia.
CAAWS contributed to the development in 1986 of Sport
Canada's Policy on Women in Sport.
wws wrote a policy development manual, Resources
For Research and Action-A Policy Handbook: Strategies
For Efecting Change in Public Policy, which was published
by the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement
of Women.
wws and the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC)
worked cooperatively on the innovative Commonwealth
Games Women in Coaching Program. CMWS was also
instrumental in making the 1994 Commonwealth Games
in Victoria the first major international sporting event to
CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIESlLES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME
i
make a commitment to gender equity, to find an affirmative action program, and to adopt an harassment policy.
CMWS and the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance collaborated in the
development of the Gender Equity School Initiatives
project.
Driven by Betty Baxter, CMWS,the CAC,the Canadian
Interuniversity Athletic Union, Sport Canada, and the
Canadian Colleges Athletic Association sponsored the
National Coaching School for Women, designed to create
new opportunities within the sport system for women
coaches. The School is currently being re-designed, and
CMWS is a partner in that process.
WWS
in the year 2000 and beyond
The CMWS of the future will wear a different face.
Maturing, growing, keeping pace with evolving demands,
remaining true to its founding principles, CAAWS will
continue to work in partnership to design a sport system
that fully involves women, weaves equity into the governing structures, offers girls a complete range of opportunities and choices, and assures full and fair access to resources.
Recognizing that the time has come to diminish its
dependence on government funding, CAAWSis developing
a marketing strategy aimed at distributing its products,
programs, and services much more widely. wws is seeking to attract public sector contributions and private
sector sponsorship, to encourage individual participation
in the organization, and to expand the market for its
products.
Accepting its place in women's movements, CAAWS
continues to build new relationships in the spirit of
spreading the word about how important sport and physical activity are to the mental and physical health and wellbeing of Canada's girls and women.
Looking to Canada's communities as the wellspring of
sport and physical activity and to young women as the
leaders of the future, wws supports the growth of "On
The Moven across the land.
Believing in the importance of women assuming leadership positions at all levels ofsport, from the community
to the international sport federations,CAAWSseeks ways to
Women in Leadership worktake the CAAWS-designed
shops to more and more women, using the interactive
model that has proven so successful.
Through its record of accomplishment and dedication,
CAAWS is uniquely placed to make a difference. Fulfilling
its mission is only a matter of time.
Sheih Robertson ofRobcmon Communications, an Ottawabased company specializing in writing and editorial services,
has been working with Canadai sport cornmunitfir close to
2Oyearr. Her involvement began in the early 1970s when she
was comunications oflcerfir Swim Canada. Rr founding
editor of Champion magazine, she set editorial standard
VOLUME 15, NUMBER 4
that remain a modelfir the sport community today. Sheih
currently works with numerous other national sport and
government organizations.
he Founding Members of CAAWS are: Betty Baxter,
Ottawa; Tom Bedecki, Ottawa; Wendy Bedingfield, Edmonton; Carole Bishop, Vancouver; Lyse Blanchard,
Ottawa; Peggy Brown, Ottawa; Elizabeth Chard, Halifax;
Monique Charlebois, Montreal; Patricia Corrnie,
Whitehorse; Muriel Duckworth, Halifax; Laurel Goodacre,
Red Deer, Alta.; Ann Hall, Edmonton; Cheryl Hassen,
Ottawa; Jo Hauser, Ottawa; Abby Hoffman, Toronto;
Reet Howell, Hamilton, Ont.; Mary Keyes, Hamilton,
Ont.; Kathy Lane, Toronto; Pat Lawson, Saskatoon;
Marion Lay, Victoria; Micheline LeGuillou, Montreal;
Pam Lewis, Ottawa; Mary Lyons, Downsview, Ont.;
Shirley Mardsen, Toronto; Suzanne Mason, Fredericton;
Rose Mercier, Ottawa; Diane Palmason, Ottawa; Anne
Popma, Burnaby, B.C.; Joan Rapsavage, Hamilton, Ont.;
Jane Rattray, St. John's; Dorothy Richardson, Edmonton; Sandy Straw, Hamilton, Ont.; Nancy Theberge,
Waterloo, Ont.; Susan Vail, Ottawa; Penny Werthner,
Ottawa; Nancy Wood, Ottawa
he 1995 CAAWS Board of Directors are: Sandy O'Brien
Cousins, Edmonton; Cara Currie, Ponoka, Alberta;Judy
Kent, Ottawa; Bryna Kopelow, Vancouver; Marion Lay,
Vancouver; Christine LeBlanc, Moncton; Marg
McGregor, Gloucester, Ontario; LorrieMickelson,Barrie,
Ontario; Janet Rerecich, Toronto; Sue Scherer, North
York, Ontario; Bobbie Steen,Vancouver;PennyWerthner,
Calgary.
References
Lewis, Pam. Women in Sport in Canada: LeadPrs and
Participantsfiom a National Perspective. Report to Fitness and Amateur Sport Canada, 1980.
Best, J.C., Marjorie Blackhurst, and Lyle Makosky. Sport:
The WayAhead. Report of the Minister's Task Forceon
Federal Sport Policy, 1992.
r
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